World cup work boon for ThaisPublished: 16/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News Tens of thousands of Thai workers are expected to be recruited to Qatar to help build the stadiums and infrastructure for the 2022 football World Cup, says the vice-minister of Labour Yuph Nana.
''Most Thai workers in the Middle East are currently employed in Qatar and Kuwait, but their numbers are going to increase very soon following Qatar winning the bid to host the 2022 World Cup,'' Mr Nana said in an exclusive interview with the Bangkok Post Sunday. ''Thais will build the required new cities, stadiums, housing complexes and many other things.
''Work on the project has to begin soon, so they have to hire many workers from all over the world, especially from Asia.
''But the skilled workers will come mostly from Thailand, with unskilled labourers coming from other countries.''
Mr Nana said a memorandum of understanding to allow a total of 54,000 Thais to work in the oil-rich state was being considered by both countries but had not yet been ratified.
There are already 13,000 Thais working in Qatar in the construction sector, helping build the new international airport and an oil refinery and in related sectors.
In April, Qatar announced that it had given approval for the total number of Thai workers in the country to be increased to 54,000, which was awaiting formal approval.
Qatar stunned the world last month when it won the right to stage the World Cup over more fancied rivals.
Qatar stunned the sporting world in December when the wealthy country of just 1.5 million people won the right to stage the world's most-watched sporting event from its more fancied rivals; the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Apart from building 12 new stadiums and 70,000 hotel rooms, Qatar will spend US$25 billion (762 billion baht) on a rail network, $5.5 billion on a deep water seaport, $11 billion on a new international airport and $20 billion on new roads.
Mr Nana, a Muslim, also said he was trying to smooth relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia, which has stopped the flow of Thai migrant workers.
Diplomatic relations were downgraded after a Thai worker stole jewellery from the Saudi royal household 20 years ago and several Saudi diplomats subsequently disappeared in Thailand.
Mr Nana said he had been working with Nabil H Ashri, charge d'affaires of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Bangkok, to solve the problem. ''Mr Nabil Ashri has been trying very hard during recent years,'' Mr Nana said. Mr Nana, is the grandson of the late Lek Nana, the ''king of Bangkok Landlords'', who served in several senior government positions and was secretary-general of the Democrat Party.
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